Issue

02/2003
St ve N
3, no RCO
ll 1 Ha E

58 r,
d B ai
an r F WIND BLATT The ENERCON Magazine
Ha he it EN

Wind power
Vis
t
at

for Antarctica

Pages 4/5: Wind yields

They keep turning even in a storm
Pages 10/11: Wind innovations
Patents from East Frisia
Pages 14/15: Wind poker
Pot luck with performance curves
 2 WIND BLATT 2/2003
Editorial
Dear Readers,
Renewable sources of energy, wind power in
particular, are at present growing more and
more in importance. Drinking water and energy
will concern mankind very seriously in the near
future. At this very time we can witness the
dubious arguments being aired in political
arenas with the aim of securing energy in the
form of raw materials (oil).
In 1995 I myself had to answer to the ITC
(International Trade Commission in Washington)
because of a charge relating to an alleged
patent infringement. The ITC is an institution
designed to protect the American economy.
It can probe into international competition, and
can prevent imports. I experienced at first hand
then how reality can be changed.
An important insight that grew out of this was
the need for ENERCON to develop its own pro-
tection rights. This goal has been pursued with
greater intensity in recent years. We now own a
number of important patents that protect our
technology. All the important elements used in
our wind energy converters are now protected
by our own patents. Our thinking is this: how
can we infringe a US patent when we have our
own protection rights/patents in the USA too?
Dear Windblatt readers, I am happy that re-
newable energies are becoming increasingly
important. This means, however, that more and
more money is being turned over in the re-
newable energy field, and that an ever larger
number of different people are involved.
In recent years, and particularly after the ITC
hearing in the USA, ENERCON has given itself
some effective protection.
Yours,
Aloys Wobben,
Managing Director of ENERCON GmbH
Cover photograph: an E-30 at the South Pole
Equipped for
the future
ENERCON demonstrates security and stability
The world economy is facing
a great challenge, particularly
in the manufacturing industries
(e.g. shipbuilding, the commercial
vehicle and automobile industries),
service industries (e.g. banks)
and telecommunication sectors.
S cenarios of saturation, over-
saturation, and an undeniably
necessary, reorientation (power con-
sumption) are being witnessed in many
areas.
It is precisely this reorientation that
provides an opportunity for renewable
energy production. But what has hap-
pened in recent years? In Germany
alone, a total of 2,328 wind energy con-
verters, representing a total power of
3.2 gigawatts, were installed in 2002.
The result of this boom is that some wind
energy converters have been installed,
planned or marketed that are not capa-
ble of serving the vision of “energy for
the world” in the long term. The unmis-
takable consequence, if you look at the
share prices of various competitors and
planning consultants, is a general de-
cline from the previous heady levels. And
this is in spite of the fact that they are
operating in a future-oriented market.
“Even in the first weeks of 2003, our
most important financing partners, the
banks, were regrettably reporting a
downward trend in share prices”, ex-
plains Hans-Dieter Kettwig, financial and
managing director at ENERCON. Many
shares have lost a considerable percent-
age of their 2001 value. This means that
the sector must expect a year of consol-
idation plans. ENERCON is ready for this.
In 2002, a total of 1,173 ENERCON wind
energy converters were installed. Opera-
ting turnover rose steadily from 915
million euros to around 1.2 billion euros.
This growth was accompanied by an in-
crease in share capital in June of 2002 to
100 million euros. Hans-Dieter Kettwig:
Installed wind power in megawatts in the EU at the
end of 2002.
Source: EWEA. Information: www.ewea.org
“This is the only way we can create con-
fidence so that we are equipped for
the future.” In spite of currently difficult
circumstances (weather and financing)
ENERCON will erect 87 installations in
Germany in the first quarter of 2003.
Worldwide demand for high quality wind
energy converters is also remaining
constant.
Countries that until recently did not want
to know about wind power, are now
starting to install converters. “Neverthe-
less, the German mainland will, in the
medium term, remain the most stable
market for wind energy converters for
those manufacturers with a long-term
 2/2003 WIND BLATT 3
Kai Hasseler has been working for ENERCON since
the beginning of the year. The 29 year-old studied
electrical engineering, specialising in automation.
As a native of East Frisia and the son of an E-40
operator, he is committed to his new job.

The newcomers to the site assessment team, Tanja Struck (right), 28, and Sabine Schulz, 30, have had an
opportunity over several weeks of induction to familiarise themselves thoroughly with their new working
environment, as seen here in the control cabinet assembly area at Electric. Tanja Struck studied electrical
engineering in Minden, specialising in renewable power generation, and will be responsible for sound, shadow
and yield forecasts in the site assessment team. Sabine Schulz concentrated on acoustics during her
university course in physics, and her work at ENERCON will also be concerned with sound.

orientation. Because, basically, every-

body, including the local communities,
operators and suppliers, benefit from the
E-112 Prototype
implementation of distributed power
production”, says Mr. Kettwig. But it is
meets expectations
The world’s largest wind energy converter, the E-112 with a capacity of 4.5
still necessary to publicise this more
megawatts, erected by ENERCON last summer at Egeln near Magdeburg, has
widely.
further proving tests. Wind-Consult, the official institute responsible for the
measurements, has determined a performance curve that surpasses the initial
And so that ENERCON can continue to calculations.
satisfy the constant demand in a profes-
sional manner, new, technically skilled The company’s own sound measurements have, moreover, confirmed the expected
members are regularly added to the level of 107 dB (A).
team. Since February of this year the
Service, Project Management and Con-
trolling departments have had their
staffing levels increased. The research
engineers at Wobben Research & De-
velopment have been given support in
their field too. Dipl.-Ing. Kai Hasseler is
responsible for load calculation. The Site
Assessment Department has gained two
experienced experts. Dipl.-Ing. Tanja
Struck develops yield forecasts, while
Dipl.-Phys. Sabine Schulz includes
acoustics amongst her responsibilities.
In the Magdeburg production shops,
too, new staff are still being sought to
Performance curve for the E-112, measured by Wind-Consult.
support the team.
4 WIND BLATT 2/2003

Generation continues,
even in a storm
New ENERCON converter regulation provides higher yields

November 2002,
a stormy autumn day: D irk Unger from Döbeln gazes
with satisfaction at his three
E-66s at the wind farm in Erlau as they in-
operate smoothly even at extremely high
wind velocities. Mr. Unger recalls: “Anti-
cyclone Jeanette brought us wind velo-
the sky becomes dark,
dustriously generate electricity. Storm cities of more than 30 m/s, but the con-
leaves fly around, the trees regulation is the name of the new soft- verters continued to turn. I first saw that
bend and the wind howls. ware which now ensures that 95 percent by looking at the remote monitor. In that
of all German E-40 and E-66 converters kind of weather we look at it rather often!”

In the absence of a storm regulation
system, a conventional wind energy
converter behaves as follows: at a wind
velocity (v1) of, for instance, 3 m/s, the
wind energy converter’s rotor begins to
turn, generating power in accordance
with the standard characteristic curve.
At about 12 m/s (v2) the converter gene-
rates its rated power, until, in standard
operation, at a mean wind velocity of, for
Power
Prated
Figure 1: Power curve of a wind energy converter in standard operation.
v1: Switch-on velocity; v2: Rated power; v3: Switch-off velocity;
v4: Return to operation velocity.
Power
Prated
Figure 2: Characteristic curve for a wind energy converter with storm regulation:
At a certain wind velocity (vstorm ) the power is reduced down to zero without
switching off the converter.
instance, 25 m/s averaged over 20
seconds (v3) it stops automatically. The
converter only switches on again when
the mean wind velocity drops below the
mean switch-off wind velocity, or under
an even lower “return to operation”
velocity (v4), a behaviour referred to as
strong wind hysteresis. If the wind is
blustery, this usually takes some time.
The converter also switches off if a brief
2/2003 WIND BLATT 5
gust (e.g. lasting for three seconds) ex- E-40 and E-66 types work with a newly
ceeds a specified maximum value. developed storm regulation software,
permitting the converter to continue ro-
A good deal of yield is lost both due to tating. In a strong wind the rotor blades
the many interruptions themselves and are turned somewhat away from the
as a result of the time required for stop- wind, and this reduces both the rotation
ping and starting. A significant loss of speed and, as a consequence, the power
yield must therefore be included in the output of the converter, although it does
calculations for the high wind velocity remain in operation. As soon as the gust
range. This is not, however, considered is over, the rotor blades turn back more
in the usual ener- directly into the wind, and the converter
gy yield calcula- immediately runs at full power again.
tions. These are “Because the ENERCON converters re-
prepared on the main connected to the grid during a
basis of a cha- storm instead of switching themselves
racteristic perfor- off, this also helps to stabilise the grid”,
mance curve that explains Michael Hölscher, technical
is linear up to director of ENERCON Service. Dirk Unger
25 m/s. The cha- confirms this: “It is certainly a relief for
racteristic cur- the energy supply company. To begin
Wind
velocity ves therefore do with it has enormous power available.
not correspond to Then, when all the converters suddenly
the actual con- disconnect from the grid, the utility has a
ditions applying total collapse. Storm regulation avoids
to the standard these fluctuations.”
operation of a
converter. The The minimum rotation speed is about
effect of gusts 6 rpm, and the connection to the grid
is that the con- is maintained. Depending how gusty
verter switches the wind is, the converter’s power
off even at mean output follows this curve downwards
wind velocities or upwards, without switching itself
of 24, 23 or off.
vstorm
Wind even 20 m/s. The
velocity
complete process The ENERCON storm regulation remains
of switching off active at wind velocities of up to 34 m/s.
and switching It permits additional energy yield at loca-
on again usually tions with high average annual wind
takes a few minutes. The time spent velocities, where the wind distribution
switched off on a single stormy day can shows a significant number of hours at
therefore lead to a loss of up to one per wind velocities greater than 25 m/s. And
cent of the annual energy yield. This loss as a final point, the converter itself is
of yield at high wind velocities was one of subjected to less stress, because the
the reasons why ENERCON developed the switch-off and start-up processes at
storm regulation system. high wind velocities are avoided, along
with their associated load peaks. This
Today, therefore, 95 per cent of all new kind of operation has now been
German ENERCON wind converters of the patented.
6 WIND BLATT 2/2003
100% renewable energy
in Burgenland
BEWAG brings wind power in Austria a step forwards
The drive from Burgenland
to East Frisia is about
1,200 kilometres. But if you
compare the landscape
and the language, it seems
even further; the faces of Austria
and Germany in these
two regions are so different.
A fter the representatives from
the Burgenland Electricity Com-
pany had been surprised to learn some of
Friedrich Herzog from ENERCON Austria (far right) explains converter technology to the Austrian customers during a factory visit at Aurich. Visitors from left to right:
Planner Dr. Robert Eberhard, legal expert Andreas Silberschneider, BEWAG executives Horvath and Wachtler.
the strange sounding North German
names of familiar features of the country-
side, the Austrian visitors were able to
enjoy a view of flat countryside dotted
with cows and wind energy converters on
the way to the ENERCON factories.
Johann Wachtler and Johannes Horvath,
the directors of Austrian Wind Power AG,
a subsidiary of BEWAG, were accompa-
nied by Friedrich Herzog, sales manager
at ENERCON Austria, and came to finalise
the contract for their order for 44 type
E-66 wind energy converters, taking the
opportunity to learn about wind energy in
Germany in general, and about ENERCON
in particular at the same time.
The BEWAG representatives were already
very experienced in this field, having
been responsible for the installation of a
wind farm at Zurndorf in 1997 Austria’s
first and largest, comprising three E-66
and ten E-40 converters, representing a
total output of 6.8 MW. The visitors were
interested to know about the proportion
of wind energy being generated in
Germany’s individual federal regions.
Aha, 12 percent in Lower Saxony, 25 per-
cent in Schleswig-Holstein. Thanks to
wind energy, and to Austria’s water
power accounting for some 70 per cent,
Burgenland’s power supply company
can boast that it supplies its 120,000

customers with 100 per cent renewable
energy. Nevertheless, the water power
has to be imported from other Austrian
federal regions, as that resource is
not available in Burgenland. Johannes
Horvath explains the ambitious BEWAG
plan: “Our target is to meet two thirds
of our customers’ power requirements
through wind energy.” Burgenland’s
electricity consumption is around 1.3
billion kWh/a. The 44 ENERCON installa-
tions now planned bring the Austrians
closer to this goal. Even the figure of
78 per cent renewable energy set in
the EU Directive appears less outlandish.
“It will still be difficult though, because
there is little scope to develop water
power any further. This means that we
must make up the missing eight per cent
mainly with wind power”, Mr. Horvath
points out.
But BEWAG is not alone in pursuing this
task. A large number of wind projects are
presently being developed in Austria.
While the Prellenkirchen II wind farm,
with six E-66 converters, was developed
in December 2002, Prellenkirchen III, with
eight E-66 converters, was completed at
the beginning of this year. The ENERCON
erection team also installed an E-66 at
Höflein in recent weeks, another one
at Schrick and a third at Hollabrunn,
which brings the ENERCON installations
in Austria currently to an output of about
65 MW.
The remuneration to be paid – under the
first regulations for ecologically gene-
rated power to be implemented uni-
formly across the whole of Austria –
was fixed at the beginning of this year.
Whereas in the past different rates
and payment plans had applied in each
federal region, a uniform 7.8 cents will
now be paid everywhere for each kilowatt
hour of wind energy. Friedrich Herzog
from ENERCON Austria sees the positive
side of this new statute: “The regulations
2/2003 WIND BLATT 7
in Austria were too complicated before.
There was a different summer and Info Service
winter tariff for each federal region. We
April / May 2003
have really been waiting for a uniform
01/04/2003 Wind Power Symposium
solution for the whole country.” Johannes
Frankfurt / Organiser, and information from:
Horvath, on the other hand, offers this Main Management Circle AG
criticism: “The remuneration rate is basi- Tel. +49 (0)6196 4722-800
cally too low.” Austria had originally Fax +49 (0)6196 4722-888
info@managementcircle.de
taken the German rates as guidance. www.managementcircle.de
And on the grounds that Austria, in any
case, does not have the optimum wind
07-12/04/ Hanover Industrial Fair
conditions provided by coastal locations,
2003 Visit ENERCON at
the federal regions indeed put forward Hanover Hall 13, Stand B 58
proposals that were at this level. The Organiser, and information from:
Ministry of Economic Affairs, however, Deutsche Messe AG
Tel. +49 (0)511 89-0
wanted a lower rate. The tariff that Fax +49 (0)511 89-32626
now applies is the compromise that re- www.messe.de
sulted.
12/04/2003 Annual General Meeting
BEWAG can, however, be happy that Hanover Bundesverband WindEnergie e.V.
the wind conditions in Burgenland are Organiser, and information from:
amongst the best in Austria. Wind BWE Service GmbH
Tel. +49 (0)30 28482-109
measurements for the major project Fax +49 (0)30 28482-107
being planned indicated about 6.9 m/s J.Liersch@wind-energie.de
at a hub height of 86 m. Approvals have www.wind-energie.de
currently been granted for 40 MW. Be-
cause of the long delivery times involved 12-13/04/ 1st Oberpfalz Energy and
in the wind sector, environmental com- 2003 Environment Exhibition
patibility investigations are only now Amberg Organiser, and information from:
Bayerischer Bauernverband,
being carried out for the other areas. Waldbauernvereinigung
Burgenland has recently been the first Tel.: +49 (0)9621 761764
federal region to carry out a large-scale Fax: +49 (0)9621 761763
info@konzeptwerkstatt.ag
evaluation of the region from the point of
www.konzeptwerkstatt.ag
view of nature and landscape protection.
Johann Wachtler believes that this ap-
proach will set a good example to other 06-07/05/ Key Account Management
2003 in the EVU
federal regions, especially as it makes a Munich Organiser, and information from:
large number of individual investigations Management Circle AG
superfluous. Tel. +49 (0)6196 4722-800
Fax +49 (0)6196 4722-888
info@managementcircle.de
To get the feel of the future appearance www.managementcircle.de
of a large E-66 wind farm, the Austrian
visitors finally took the opportunity to visit
08-10/05/ Solar Energy 2003
the Wybelsumer Polder wind farm, where 2003 Organiser, and information from:
47 ENERCON converters are installed at Berlin Profair GmbH
the coast near Emden. And then? Time at Tel. +49 (0)5121 52486
Fax +49 (0)5121 53640
last to leave East Frisian tea behind and to
Solarenergy@Hotmail.com
fly towards the aroma of Viennese coffee www.solarenergy-berlin.de
houses.
8 WIND BLATT 2/2003
Astonished penguins
ENERCON erects three E-30s in Antarctica
ne of the most innovative and
O exciting wind projects has now
been implemented with three ENERCON
converters of type E-30 (300 kW).
Under the curious gaze of several pen-
guins, ENERCON erected the first wind
energy converters in Antarctica. The
animals showed no fear as they came
by one evening, examined the building
work, and went on their way. The con-
verters will work as part of a hybrid
system together with a diesel generator
in order to supply the Australian Mawson
research station with electricity. The
customer is the Australian Antarctic Di-
vision.
The converters must withstand extreme
stresses, being exposed to temperatures
as low as 40 degrees Celsius below
zero and wind speeds of up to 250 km/h.
These conditions called for specially
modified towers, strong enough to with-
stand the special loads presented by air
density and wind, and manufactured of
special steel suitable for the very low
temperatures. The nacelle itself is most-
ly fitted with standard components. Only
the cast parts have been manufactured
with some small modifications that adapt
them to the low temperatures. A thermal
supply was required for the electrical
parts. The electrical boxes, for instance,
were fitted with heaters. The rotor blades
conform to ENERCON standards. Blade
heaters are not necessary because of the
extremely low air humidity.
Transport and erection were difficult
tasks, as Bernd Rosner and Deerk Thos
from the ENERCON erection team dis-
covered on site. Bernd Rosner sent the
WINDBLATT editors an e-mail descri-
bing his impressions and experiences:

“Transport here in Antarctica is quite
difficult. For reasons of environmental
protection, there are no roads. The tower
sections, nacelle and hub were brought
to the foundations on a sledge. It took
ten days just to unload the ship.” The
components began their journey by ship
in Tasmania. Erection was also difficult,
because a wind of between 15 and 25
m/s blows until the early hours of the
afternoon, only easing later.
As for the temperature, the South Pole
summer at that time was relatively
2/2003 WIND BLATT 9
merciful. The thermometer sometimes
even climbed above freezing point. Daily
life in the Australian station, writes Bernd
Rosner, was not at all bad: “The food is
very good. There is a hot house here, and
other food is deep-frozen. We have a bar
and a cinema, while the view of a unique
natural panorama is almost too spec-
tacular to describe.”
Further information is available at
www.aad.gov.au
10 WIND BLATT 2/2003

or
cit
pa
il
Ca
Co
Generator
e. g.
US 09/979,790

Generator

Rectifier

Rectifier

65 m to 114 m
tower cable
he ic
itc ron
s
sw lect
E

Inverter

Inverter
e. g. US 6,157,556

LV
Filter
e. g. US 6,452,819
Transformer

MV

Protection for ideas
Patents provide international legal protection
I n 1995, a patent dispute in the USA
involved the claim that the E-40 has
a rotating shaft. The background was that
the plaintiff had a patent for a wind tur-
bine with a rotating shaft as one of the
features of the primary claim. The two
illustrations below show the technical
difference between a rotating shaft and a
stationary main pin. The E-40 (right) only
has a main pin that is stationary (not
rotating), and which belongs to the
supporting part of the machine structure.
In contrast to a rotating shaft, therefore, it
does not transmit any torque (bottom left).
ENERCON’s managing director, Dipl.-Ing.
Aloys Wobben, explained that “this patent
dispute had a marked effect on us at the
time, with the result that since then we
have had our new technology protected by
our own patents, so that we always have
legal security. We have therefore now
obtained or applied for patents on all the
important parts of our wind energy con-
verters.” In the illustration on page 10, for
instance, the generator, the inverter and
the filter can be seen. The individual
numbers indicate the US patents or patent
applications that ENERCON owns on these
components.
The directly driven synchronous ring gene-
rator alone contains a significant number
of parts for which patent applications have
been filed. One of these concerns the
somewhat arrow-like shape of the pole
shoes on the generator’s rotor. Their spe-
Ro
Ro
tor
tor
sh
be
aft
ar
ing
hu
b Genera
tor
Ro
Left: ENERCON type E-16 converter from 1986 with gearbox, rotating rotor shaft, passive rectifier and ENERCON inverter.
Right: Modern, gearless ENERCON type E-40 converter with directly driven ring generator and fixed main pin (the rotor hub is here shown transparent).
cial form reduces the mechanical stress on
the generator. The alternating current cre-
ated by the generator varies in frequency,
and is passed through a passive rectifier
using conventional modern technology. It
then passes along a tower cable (between
65 and 114 m in an E-66, depending on the
height of the tower) down to the tower
base. The direct current is then passed
to an inverter, but one that is markedly
different from conventional inverters. The
ENERCON inverter has short-circuit pro-
tection for each individual semiconductor. If
any short circuits occur, therefore, the
semiconductors are not damaged.
Wind energy converters with asynchro-
nous generators cannot, for instance, use
passive rectifiers to perform the conver-
sion in the same way as ENERCON. This is
because an asynchronous generator re-
quires excitation current to create a ro-
tating field before it can operate, and this
can only be created with active circuitry.
That kind of wind energy converter there-
fore must use an inverter instead of the
rectifier to perform this task.
After the power company Enron be-
came insolvent, the US company General
Electric (GE) took over its wind power
division, including the patents. The prima-
ry claim of one these patents, based on
an application made in 1991 protects a
wind energy converter with a rotating
shaft, an (asynchronous) generator and a
power converter.
Roto
r hu
b
Main pin
tor
2/2003 WIND BLATT 11
This converter consists of two inverters,
each of which is very closely coupled to
the intermediate DC circuit. The first in-
verter generates a three-phase rotating
field for excitation of the asynchronous
generator, and passes the active current
from the generator into the intermediate
DC circuit. The second inverter feeds the
electrical energy generated into the grid.
A further claim covers a vector control
system for the inverter that is connected
to the grid.
GE have raised a claim for infringement of
this patent (against which there are 10
objections that have been registered at
the European Patent Office alone) against
ENERCON and its customers in England
and Canada.
As, however, ENERCON has been using
its inverter since 1986 in accordance with
a largely unchanged basic concept, this
can hardly infringe the GE patent, being
older and correspondingly longer known.
On top of this, the ENERCON inverter
operates in a different way from the in-
verter protected by the GE patent (see
above). ENERCON is therefore resisting
GE’s action. Because wind energy con-
verters made by GE use patents owned by
ENERCON, the question of their enforce-
ment is now being examined.
There is further information under
www.enercon.de/englisch/
fs_news_e.html
 12 WIND BLATT 2/2003
European beech
(Fagus silvatica)
White dogwood
(Corus sanguinea)
Elder
(Sambucus nigra)
The greening
of energy
Compensatory action based on wind power improves the landscape
Wetlands, salt marshes,
boundary hedges and unstraightened
stream beds benefit bird-life and
wild animals in East Frisia.
As compensatory measures
in association with wind energy
converters, they provide long-term
improvements to the landscape.
n the region of Aurich alone, about
I 340 hectares of compensation area
have been put in place in recent years.
Katrin Koch, who graduated in geography,
is responsible at ENERCON for taking care
of such compensatory work, amongst
other things. When the construction of a
wind energy converter is planned, she
gets together, on behalf of the operator,
with the relevant nature protection
authorities for the local area, to negotiate
and to provide advice about appropriate
compensation measures.
According to Germany’s nature protection
regulations, both modifications to the
local ecology and changes to the ap-
pearance of the landscape require com-
pensation. Damage and long-term effects
are to be avoided or minimised, and other-
wise a replacement is to be provided.
Before the qualified geographer meets
representatives of the nature protection
authorities, she has already visited the
planned converter location. “I examine
the nature and the landscape at the site
from the point of view of balancing the
Common oak
(Quercus
robur)
Hornbeam
(Carpinus betulus)
effects. This means, for instance, that if
the landscape is open, such as on a
marsh, then of course trees should not
be planted there, because they do not
correspond to the natural vegetation.”
During her studies in Jena she often had
opportunities during her field excursions
to get to know both flora and fauna close-
up. The broad-based course of study,
including area planning and ecology,
was an excellent preparation for her
present job.
Geographer Katrin Koch is responsible for com-
pensation measures at ENERCON.
A wide variety of activities have been
undertaken by the operators of wind
energy converters in support of the re-
generation of nature. For an E-66 in
the sandy north German heathland at
Neuvrees near Friesoythe, Hermann
Rolfes planted deciduous woodland in a
staged structure that includes bushes and
trees. All of these were native species
such as oak, beech, ash, elder and rowan.
Hubert Eilting, director of the Lengerich
municipal wind farm with its eight E-66
converters, will soon be able to listen with
Alder buckthorn
(Rhamnus
Ash (Fraxinus
excelsior)
frangula)
Snowberry
(Symphoricarpos
albus)
Native plants that play a role
in compensatory actions in
North Germany.
satisfaction to the splashing of the stream
known as the Wettrupper Schulbach. It is
connected to the nearby Lagerbach, so
creating an interlinked network for animal
life. Similar steps have already been
taken by the association of local autho-
rities. This involves the recreation of a
canal-like structure that includes small
bays where the first ducks set up their
breeding places only a few months later.
As compensation for ten E-66 converters
close to a former sand extraction area in
the county of Bad Bentheim, the operating
company has carried out nature restora-
tion on an area of 15 hectares. This in-
cluded vertical excavation of the sandy
soil over lengths of 40 to 50 m to provide
potential breeding places for protected
sand martins. Bird expert Gerhard van
Aans provided advice to the operators.
The martins make new nests each year
when they return from the south. They
have taken to using sand excavation
areas as a replacement for steep river
banks, a natural habitat that has been lost
through straightening.
“The landscape is enriched by these
various activities, particularly because
they are returned to a natural state”,
summarises Katrin Koch. For one E-66, a
nature regeneration area of, on average,
one or two hectares is required. If such an
area is not available to the operator, he
must lease it and take care of it for as long
as the wind energy converter remains.
The converter itself only causes the loss
of the area of its foundation, with a dia-
meter of between 12 and 19 m. Crane
 Field maple
(Acer campestre)
Rowan
Common privet
(Sorbus aucuparia)
(Ligustrum vulgare)
Partner Joseph Hellweg at the pond biotope at Lähden near Haselünne
erected by the Ökostrom municipal wind farm. It has been set up along with a
series of planting measures as a compensation for two E-66 converters and
one E-40.
standings and paths created specially for
these activities are formed as water-
permeable areas of loose gravel, to mini-
mise the effect on the ecology. When,
after many years, the converter has
served its purpose, it must be dismantled,
along with its foundation, at the opera-
tors’ expense.
Sometimes, however, the topic of com-
pensation measures can develop into a
real drama. Dr. Peter Elsner, a partner in
Windenergie Hattorf GbR, located in the
Osterode district in the Harz, has a long
story to tell about this. Although every-
thing started so nicely! At the end of 1998,
Windenergie Hattorf joined together with
Elsner and his colleagues planting on the Röderberg.
Common guelder rose
(Viburnum opulus)
Spindle tree
(Evonymus europaeus)
Gerhard Jüngerink (left) from the Göhlenkamp-Wilsum wind farm and Gerhard
van Aans from the Nature Protection Association at the newly created rock wall for
sand martins at Wilsum. A compensation also includes an area kept open for the rare
northern wheatear.
the Nature Protection Association in a
large-scale planting within the district, as
a compensation for two E-40s. The aim
was to break up the spruce monoculture,
and to provide other shrubs as potential
food for birds and shelter for wild animals.
Orchards were planted with old varieties
at the same time. Slowly, a biotope is
developing, forming a valuable stepping-
stone as a compensation measure under
a wind energy converter. The wind energy
friends have planted almost 1,800 trees
for this. The operators, including farmers,
foresters and members of the Nature
Protection Association, were enthusiasti-
cally involved, especially as they are to-
gether contributing through wind energy
to the conservation of
both nature and the
climate.
Last year, the opera-
tors wanted to add a
further converter to
the ENERCON wind
farm. Röderwind GbR
was to erect it as a
community wind ener-
gy converter. How-
ever, the nature pro-
2/2003 WIND BLATT 13
Hazel
(Corylus
avellana)
Aspen (P. tremula)
tection authorities for the local region
involved the Regional Ecology Office. They
now require preliminary investigations of
the appearance of the landscape for the
erection of a third converter at Röderberg.
A study of the feeding, flight and breeding
behaviour of birds and bats is also to be
carried out. The report concerning the
bats and birds alone entails costs of at
least 15,000 euros. The Ecology Office
justifies this requirement on the grounds
that the installation planned by Röderwind
would be the seventh in the area of the
Röderberg hill. It is a statutory require-
ment that for the construction of a new
installation, the effects on the entire wind
region must be examined. Compensation
is then, however, only created for the
seventh installation. The view taken by
the regional authorities, namely that the
installations on the hill are to be con-
sidered as one unit, is questionable.
Dr. Elsner sums the affair up with dis-
appointment: “As a community wind
farm we could not afford such an expen-
sive investigation. It may be necessary
to lease the area out to a large project
company.” The local region would then
have scored a goal against its own con-
stituents.
14 WIND BLATT 2/2003
It’s rather
like taking pot luck
Performance measurement on wind energy converters according to current standard
W hen planning a wind farm or a wind energy con-
verter, the expected energy yield at the selected
location is of central significance to the efficiency calcula-
tions and financing. The yield forecasts are based on the
wind conditions at the location and on the output curve of the
planned wind energy converter type. The current law on
feeding electricity from renewable energies into the public
grid has given increased importance to the performance
curve, because it is used to calculate what is known as the
reference yield, and this has a considerable effect on the
remuneration for all wind energy converters of the type con-
cerned. But the performance curves measured by the wind
Figure 1: The performance curve for the E-66.
power industry have always been regarded as more reliable
than calculated performance curves. Particular emphasis is
placed here on performing the measurements in conformity
with the relevant standard, “IEC - 61400 - 12 WIND TURBINE
GENERATOR SYSTEMS, PART 12 - WIND TURBINE POWER
PERFORMANCE TESTING”. A measurement carried out in
accordance with this standard, and also with the “Measnet”
standard, is considered to be entirely correct.
ENERCON’s development engineers do not, however, share
this confidence in performance curves measured according
to these specifications. The reason for this is the wide scatter
Figure 2: The performance curve for the E-30.

in the measurements, which can lead to a devia-
tion of up to 10 per cent in the forecast energy
yield. This scatter observed in the results is not,
however, caused by an imprecision in the mea-
suring instruments used, but by physical laws that
are, quite simply, ignored by the standards.
The performance curve of a wind energy converter
measured in accordance with the standard is sup-
posed to show the dependency of the electrical
power delivered on the mean wind velocity at
the height of the hub, normalised to standard air
density. The essence of the problem is that the
electricity output of a converter does not depend
only on the air density and on the mean wind
velocity at the height of the hub, as the standard
suggests. Other meteorological conditions such as
the intensity of turbulence (how gusty the wind is),
the wind gradient (caused, for instance, by tem-
perature layering) and inclined flow (vertical and
horizontal) also play a part. The result of this is that
there cannot be one definitive performance curve
for a wind energy converter, but rather a charac-
teristic performance field, as is widely understood
in other areas of engineering.
Figures 1 and 2 show the performance curves of an
E-66 (1.8 MW) and an E-30 (230 kW) under
different conditions of ambient turbulence, but
measured using the same instrumentation at the
same location. The performance differs by up to
eight per cent for the same wind velocity at the
height of the hub. A further example for measure-
ments according to the standard are the charac-
Figure 3: The performance curve for the E-40.
2/2003 WIND BLATT 15
teristic curves for the E-40, measured at the same
time on the same converter, but with two different
types of anemometer, both of which are permitted
by the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commis-
sion). The performance curves drawn on the basis
of these measurements differ by around twelve per
cent. These measurements were carried out in
complex terrain, which meant that there was a ver-
tical component to the flow of air to the converter’s
rotor. The latest IEC draft standard favours an
anemometer of the type used for the red curve on
Figure 3 (power correction factor cp max = 0.57).
These anemometers measure the horizontal wind
velocity, but not the vertical component, although
this is certainly used by the rotor to obtain energy.
As a consequence, too little wind is then continuous-
ly measured in association with too much power,
which leads to truly fabulous performance curves.
In summary, performance curves measured in
accordance with current standards are rather hit-
or-miss affairs, because the relevant meteoro-
logical conditions are either simply not recorded
or are not included in evaluation of the data. For
one and the same converter, quite different per-
formance curves can be produced depending on
the intensity of turbulence, inclination of the
flow and thermal layering over the period of the
measurement. Because this is not a new problem,
ENERCON has made a number of attempts over
recent years to include appropriate changes in the
standards, unfortunately without success. For this
reason, ENERCON has now decided that in forth-
coming measurements of characteristic curves it
will consider the applicable standards only as a
basis, and will perform additional data recording
and evaluation. Starting with the prototype of the
E-112, the characteristic performance field de-
pendent on wind gradient, turbulence intensity and
other relevant parameters, will be measured in
addition to the IEC measurements. This will pro-
vide a significant improvement in the precision of
yield forecasts in future, so that measurement will
produce results that really are more reliable than
those obtained through calculation.
 Addresses
ENERCON International sales offices
ENERCON GmbH,
International Dept.
Otto-Lilienthal-Str. 25
28199 Bremen · Germany
Phone: +49 421 2441520
We set ourselves
Fax: +49 421 2441539
E-mail: sales.international@enercon.de
AUSTRIA
Hauptstrasse 19A
2120 Wolkersdorf · Austria
Phone: +43 2245 82828
high standards
Fax : +43 2245 82838
E-mail: enercon@vienna.at
SWEDEN
ENERCON Service strengthens its distributed network
c/o Energy Converter AB
Stenåldersgatan 19
21376 Malmö · Sweden
Phone: +46 40 143580
NERCON Service em-
Fax: +46 40 222420
E-mail: mail@enercon.nu
GREAT BRITAIN
Axiom House, Station Road
Stroud, Glos. GL5 3AP · Great Britain
Phone: +44 1493 782018
E ployees have good
reason to be proud of them-
Fax: +44 1493 789094
E-mail : info@enercon.co.uk
SPAIN selves. An operator survey car-
ENERCON Spain S.A.
c/o València Parc Tecnològic
Av. Juan de la Cierva, 27 ried out by the Federal Wind
E-46980 Paterna Valencia · Spain
Phone: +34 961 3678-70
Fax : +34 961 3678-75 Energy Association (BWE) has
PORTUGAL
c/o Gellweiler Lda.
Travessa do Alecrim, 3 - 2°
now shown that ENERCON
1200 Lisbon · Portugal
Phone: +351 21 3420021
Fax : +351 21 3420026
offers the best service of any
E-mail: aesteves@gellweiler.pt
BENELUX manufacturer. In comparison to
Van Karnebeekstraat 125
8011 JE Zwolle · The Netherlands
Phone: +31 38 4228282 the previous year, the East
Fax: +31 38 4228010
E-mail: sales@blx.enercon.de
TURKEY
Frisian company improved
ENERCON Service Ltd. Sti.
PK.: 23 Kiziltoprak · Istanbul · Turkey
Phone: +90 216 4149202
its overall score from 2.13
Fax: +90 216 3452959
E-mail: enercon@doruk.net.tr to 2.06.
DENMARK
Bredkaer Parkvej 62
8250 Egaa · Denmark
Phone: +45 87 430388
Fax: +45 87 430344
E-mail: kristensen@enercon.de ENERCON Service, responsible
ITALY
ENERCON Service Italia S.r.l. for the maintenance and care
Via G. Della Casa 7
82100 Benevento · Italy
Phone: +39 082 425257 of nearly 6,000 wind energy
Fax: +39 082 4336883
E-mail: enerconitalia@tin.it
GREECE
converters around the world,
ENERCON S.A.
20, Pentelis Ave.
15235 Vrilissia
operates decentrally in Ger-
Athens - Greece
Phone: +30 106838490
Fax: +30 106838489
many through a tightly knit electricians, mechanics and Like operator forums, service
E-mail: enerconh@otenet.gr
AUSTRALIA network of 84 service depots. material from the Scherfede surveys are a good oppor-
ENERCON Powercorporation Pty. Ltd.
3406 Export Drive · Trade Development
Zone · Northern Territory Eleven additional depots and office, and will be available tunity to subject our own
NT 0822 Darwin · Australia
Phone: +61 889470933
Fax: +61 889470925 about 60 new jobs are to be to talk to customers. “We want work to critical examination.
E-mail: mail@pcorp.com.au
EGYPT
c/o Zaki International Trading
created this year. A new inter- to pursue the decentralisation And so that we can obtain
23 Kasr El-Nil StreetCairo 11111 · Egypt
Phone: +20 2 3923670
Fax: +20 2 4170023 further suggestions for im-
E-mail: zit@starnet.com.eg
CANADA
Wind Power Inc. provement in spite of the
Suite # 222 Lebel Manison
696 Kettles Street, Pincher Creek
Alberta TOK 1 WO · Canada good report, the service de-
Phone: +1 403 6272923
Fax: +1 403 6273239
E-mail: wpi@windpower.ca partment began last year to
INDIA
ENERCON (India) Ltd.
Kolsite House, Plot Nr. 31
invite operator representatives
Shah Industrial Estate
Veera · Desai Rd., Andheri (West)
Mumbai 400 053 · India
to meetings.
Phone: +91 22 6364848
Fax: +91 22 6315153
E-mail: enercon@bol.net.in
BRAZIL
Wobben Windpower To demonstrate how we will
Industria e Comércio Lda.
Av. Fernando Stecca n° 100
Distrito Industrial CEP listen to criticism from cus-
18087450 Sorocaba · Sao Paulo · Brazil
Phone: +55 15 2283737
Fax: +55 15 2283887 tomers, a customer informa-
E-mail: wobben@splicenet.com.br Markus Henke, Andreas Hillebrand and Helmut Kruse (from left to right) lead the new
service office in North Rhine-Westphalia. tion portal for converter ope-
I m p r i n t
WINDBLATT MAGAZINE nal service office with a central policy seriously, and in that rators will soon open on the
Publisher: ENERCON GmbH internet. As a result of ser-
Dreekamp 5, 26605 Aurich store was opened very recent- way improve our contact both
Phone: +49 4941 927-0
Fax: +49 4941 927-109 ly at Scherfede near Paderborn with customers and with our vice staff occasionally being
Windblatt is printed on 100 % recycled paper.

www.enercon.de/english/
fs_windblatt_e.html for the North-Rhine Westphalia own workers”, explains Ser- told that the documentation
Editorial office:
ENERCON GmbH Aurich service region. The three ex- vice Manager Dipl. Kfm. Volker about service and mainte-
Nicole Weinhold
nicole.weinhold@enercon.de perienced ENERCON fitters Kendziorra. As well as in nance appointments could
Printed by:
Steinbacher Druck GmbH, Helmut Kruse, Andreas Hille- Aurich, there are other internal stand further improvement,
Osnabrück, Phone: +49 541 95900-0
The WINDBLATT magazine appears brand and Markus Henke will service offices already at ENERCON is now involved in
every two months and is regularly
included in the newspaper “New in future coordinate service Wurzburg and Magdeburg. optimising this area.
Energy” – magazine of the Federal
Association for Wind Energy.
Phone: +49 541 350600 or
Fax: +49 541 3506030